


Christmas at Hogwarts

by xo_marauders



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bonding, Christmas fic, F/M, Fluff, For these two at least, Friendship, Hogwarts, Just Sirius and Lily being buds, M/M, Marauders, Marauders era, Sirius Black and Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, siblings suck, sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22075849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xo_marauders/pseuds/xo_marauders
Summary: Lily Evans finds herself staying at school over the holidays because of the increasing tension between her and her sister. She finds herself finding an unlikely friend over the break and is more grateful for it than she ever thought she'd be.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter (implied), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 124





	Christmas at Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> a request I had on tumblr! hope you enjoy it here as well!   
> tw: sibling angst and referenced child abuse

The common room was empty and quiet, lacking its usual chaos that occurred when the whole of Gryffindor tower was crowded in it. It was the holidays, so most everyone had gone home to their families, leaving behind one Lily Evans to dwell with her thoughts.

She opted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas after receiving a nasty letter from her sister. Lily couldn’t bear to face Petunias hatred in person this year, so she promptly wrote to her parents to inform them that the school had been snowed in and that there was no way she was going to be able to make it home. Her parents seemed to buy the lie, not even questioning why _wizards_ couldn’t handle a little snow, and Lily was able to keep the true reason for not returning to herself.

It was a bit lonely, though. She didn’t realize how alone she would feel as she curled up in front of the fire place with a book Remus had gifted her. She toyed with the pages idly, finding herself to be missing Remus, along with the rest of the Marauders—even James Potter. Their rambunctious personalities and endless pranks were very entertaining and Lily didn’t realize how often she had taken advantage of their high spirits until it was suddenly absent.

Lily frowned, shutting the book and setting it gently beside her. She wondered what they were all up to. Her mind drifted to James as she wondered if he was having fun in India visiting his family. He had talked about the trip so often before he left that Lily was sure she had their itinerary memorized. Not that she really _cared_ what Potter was up to. Her mind was just…wandering.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the portrait hole swinging open, hitting the wall and earning a screech from the Fat Lady. Lily turned to see Sirius Black standing there. She looked at him with surprise, having thought Sirius had gone home just like everybody else. He stared at her with a similar expression before smiling and walking towards her.

“‘Lo, Evans.” He said as he plopped himself down on the couch beside her. “What has you staying at Hogwarts this Christmas?”

Lily didn’t really want to dump her problems onto anyone else, let alone Sirius Black, so she made up another lie. “My parents are going on a trip with my sister, Petunia, and her boyfriend, Vernon. I decided to stay here. Stay out of their hair…”

It was a weak lie, she thought, furrowing her eyebrows and staring at the fireplace. Sirius merely hummed before leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear before fixing Lily with a look.

“Where are they going?”

“Um…” Lily began and Sirius’ eyes sparkled mischievously. She glared at him, folding her arms and sulking back into the couch, a defeated look upon her face. “Fine. You win. I didn’t go home because my sister hates me. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Sirius was quiet for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face, before leaning back against the cushions with her and shaking his head.

“No. No, Lily, that’s not what I wanted to hear.” His voice was solemn and serious which was very _un-Sirius._ “That sucks.”

It wasn’t what most people said when they found out about Lily’s relationship with her sister. Alice always apologized, despite not being able to control anything about the situation. Marlene always told her that Petunia could suck it and Dorcas would just give her a sad smile before changing the subject.

She knew that they meant well, that they were just trying to make her feel better but Lily was never going to feel better about her sister hating her. But she also didn’t want to hear how terrible her sister was either. So when Sirius simply stated that ‘ _it sucked_ ’ well, Lily couldn’t help but feel like somebody _finally_ understood.

“Yeah.” She said, a little too loudly considering the emptiness of the room. “Yeah it does suck.”

Sirius shifted a bit closer to her, knocking their shoulders as if to let her know that it was okay to admit such a thing. Lily sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry it’s just…everyone else always tries to make me feel better about it and like…Petunia is still my sister and—“

“—and you still love her despite the fact that your relationship will never be what it was.”

“Exactly.”

Lily looked at Sirius thoughtfully, noticing the far off look on his face and wondered if she had more in common with Sirius Black than she had originally thought. Of all the Marauders, she always thought she had more in common with Remus but judging by the way Sirius was sitting here, practically reading her thoughts, made her wonder if Sirius had similar experience with his family.

“Why are you staying here instead of going home?” Lily questioned, though she suspected she knew the answer at this point. She’d heard rumors about the Black family and their beliefs. It was these rumors that had made Lily wary of Sirius in the first place.

Sirius shrugged. “Figured I’d make my mother’s wish come true and stay away. They’re not exactly thrilled about who I’m friends with and that I’m a Gryffindor.”

He spoke about it so casually, like it was nothing, but Lily could tell by the way his eyes dimmed how broken it made him feel.

“Well, I guess it worked out for me.” Lily said and Sirius gave her a bewildered look. She just smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Now I have someone to spend Christmas with.”

The genuine smile on Sirius’ face made Lily forget about being so sad about her sister. Because that holiday, Lily Evans somehow found herself a brother.

*****

When James, along with Remus and Peter, got off the Hogwarts Express after spending a long holiday home, he was surprised to see Sirius waiting for them with his arm linked with none other than Lily Evans.

At first, James was hurt, wondering why his best friend would do something like this to him. But then he saw the way Sirius launched himself at Remus and remembered where Sirius’ affection truly lied. Still, it was strange to see them, standing there _together_ with smiles upon there faces as if they’d been friends for years.

“I missed you lot tons.” Sirius exclaimed once he released Remus.

“Seems like you had some good company.” Remus mused as he moved to hug Lily. She laughed and James felt butterflies in his stomach just at the sound.

“Turns out, Sirius isn’t bad company.” Lily said humorously, though there was a sincere look in her eyes. Sirius smiled back at her and they embraced one another briefly. James glanced between the girl he loved and his best friend, feeling a strange warmth in his chest. It was nice to see someone giving Sirius the love he deserved outside of the Marauders, and it made his feelings for Lily grow that much more.

“You have a good Christmas, Potter?” Lily asked, tearing James away from his thoughts. He was a bit shocked that Lily had actually addressed him and looked toward Sirius for help. Sirius just smiled and nodded for him to respond.

“Yeah,” James said breathlessly. “It was brilliant.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled and turned to Sirius hesitantly before looking back to James. “Maybe next year we could all do something together.”

James eyes went wide and he nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Yes of course.”

Lily smiled brightly and turned back to the others. “Perfect. Well, I’ll see you boys later. I’m off to find Alice.”

Just as she was about to wander away, Sirius grabbed hold of her wrist, causing her to turn about and look at him.

“Thank you again, Lily.” He said softly, just for her ears. “This was one of the best Christmas Holidays I’ve ever had and I owe it to you.”

Lily grinned, remembering the fun they had about the castle and the late nights they stayed up. She remembered the secrets they had shared and the encouragement they had given to one another. The encouragement he had given her about James.

She remembered feeling immensely grateful for Sirius Black.

“It was one of my best, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!   
> come and chat with me on tumblr @xomarauders


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